Mr Johnson told MPs yesterday it was "very difficult to imagine that UK representation to [the World Cup] could go ahead in the normal way".

After the panic, sources close to the Foreign Secretary confirmed to The Sun that he was not referring to pulling out the whole team - but meant that Britain might not send the same officials and dignitaries as it usually would to such events.

Concerned MP Tony Perkins said pulling out would cause "massive consequences" for thousands of fans who are set to travel to the games - and called on him to explain himself to MPs.

So Boris Johnson seems to suggest that in event it is proved that Skripal was poisoned by Russia, England should not participate in 2018 World Cup. Don’t know where that came from, whether it’s a personal view or a policy.

Sergei Skripal, 66, was a former Russian spy working for M16 - and is not critically ill in hospital

AFP

Sources later claimed Boris meant just officials might not go to Russia

But Speaker John Bercow said that he was NOT making a policy statement and was merely "ruminating" on the situation.

The World Cup is set to take place later this summer - and 31 countries are confirmed to join hosts Russia.

England is in a group with Tunisia, Panama and Belgium.

The FA have refused to comment on Mr Johnson's remarks.

It really would save a lot of time and hassle if Boris preceded every Commons appearance, media interview and memo by saying: 'Please take none of this seriously until my aides have confirmed if I meant to say it.' #WorldCup

A No10 spokesperson said that the matter was not discussed at Cabinet this morning, but that the Prime Minister is being kept informed of updates.

But the Russian Foreign Ministry described Mr Johnson's comments as "preposterous".

And the Russian Embassy in the UK accused the media of "swiftly launching a new phase of the anti-Russian campaign ongoing in the UK" which they said was causing "serious concern".

A spokesperson said: "We believe that the British authorities and law enforcement bodies should step in immediately and inform the Embassy and the British society about the actual circumstances of this incident, so as to end the demonisation of Russia."

Getty - Contributor

The case bears striking similarities to the ex-Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko - who was poisoned with Polonium-210

Map showing where ex-spy Skripal lives and where he was 'exposed' the unnamed substance in Salisbury, Wiltshire

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Anna Chapman - the Russian he was swapped with - was dubbed Russia's 'most glamorous spy'

Solent News

Police stand guard outside a house in Salisbury believed to belong to the ex-Russian spy

BBC News

Foreign Affairs Chairman Tom Tugenhat said the country was launching a new 'soft war' against the West

Who is Sergei Skripal?

Sergei Skripal was born on June 23 1951.

He was arrested in December 2004 after Russia accused him of passing on identifties of its spies onto the UK's Secret Intelligence Service MI6.

It claimed Skripal had been paid the $100,000 (£72,270) for the information which he had been supplying since in 1990s.

At the time he was serving in the Russian Ground Forces.

Skripal was said to have passed secrets to MI6 through a James Bond-style fake rock hidden in Moscow park.

Russian secret services exposed the rock in 2006, revealing how agents transmitted data to it via a hidden handheld device.

He was found guilty of 'high treason in the form of espinoage' and sentenced to 13 years in prison.

However he was released by Moscow in 2010 following a 'spy swap' deal made between the US and Russia.

Among the trade-off was glamour spy Anna Chapman.

He was nicknamed 'the spy with the Louis Vuitton bag' after pictures showed him carrying a bag at an airport en route to meeting his handlers.

Skripal was then flown to the UK and granted refuge. After settling in Salisbury in a £350,000 semi-detatched house his wife Liudmila who died in 2012.